Information Overload
Ever suffered from information overload? Wasted time surfing on the Internet because your searches return too many results? I can answer “Guilty” to both so this summer I want to further hone my searching techniques.
Google Basic Search
Most of us have executed numerous basic searches on Google, only to be bombarded with thousands, if not millions, of hits. For example, this basic search on Edward Cullen turned up 6,260,000 results. Quite a bit to look through.
Google Squared
Google Labs introduced Google Squared at its second Searchology event in May of 2009.
“Unlike a normal search engine, Google Squared doesn’t find webpages about your topic — instead, it automatically fetches and organizes facts from across the Internet.” from the Official Google Blog
The same search on Edward Cullen in Google Squared produced this square:
To try out this new search feature for yourself, go to Google Squared and enter your search term in the box. Click on “Square It” and see how Google has organized information about your topic. If you have an iGoogle account, you can save your searches.
Benefits of Google Squared?
I’ll have to do quite a bit more playing with Google Squared to determine if it make locating the information I need more quickly than an Advanced Search. I love the idea of an organized result list, but did you notice that Bella is listed as a Guinea Pig under Species and Emmett is listed as a Rainbow Trout? Hmm….much different story line would come from those ideas.
Suggestions?
I would love for others to share their tips for efficient and effective searching techniques. What works best for you?
